By Madison Gonzalez ‘27
North Korea is the strictest Communist country on Earth in 2023. The nation is based on a complete totalitarian government where absolute loyalty is demanded from all 25 million citizens, and the slightest sign of being disloyal to the regime will get you sent to a political prison camp or concentration camp for life1.
Are there any Westerners who are brave enough to visit this hostile nation whose number one enemy is the USA? Ask our Valley Voice advisor, Ms. Janae Lapp!
For 75 years now, the Kim family has worked to keep North Korea isolated from the entire world, essentially creating their own separate universe within the borders2.
In 1910, the Japanese army invaded the Korean Peninsula, forcing all natives to learn Japanese and assimilate to Japanese society3. However, in 1945, when Japan lost the Second World War, the government was forced to give up all land that they invaded in East Asia4.
This power vacuum in the Koreas was a problem. However, the Soviet Union and US filled this powerless territory, with the Soviets installing a popular leader in the north, Kim Il-Sung, grandfather to Kim Jong-Un5. A few years later, Kim Il-Sung invaded the new South Korea, pushing the new S.K. army all the way down to Busan, located on the southern coast6.
This invasion marked the beginning of the Korean War. Over the next couple of months, the South Korean army violently pushed the North Korean force all the way back up in a violent counterattack7. In 1953, the Korean DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) was established as part of the Korean Armistice agreement8.
Since the division, South Korea and North Korea have been bitterly divided, even though they were the same territory for many thousands of years9.
The US influenced the South Korean government, helping it become a free-market republic10. North Korean citizens, aware of the freedom down south, understandably wanted to escape.
North Korea doesn’t allow its citizens to leave the country without prior permission from the state11. In fact, as of late, you’re not even allowed to travel from one internal province to another without official documentation 12. North Korea is the only country in the world that doesn’t allow international travel for any citizen without permission. This rule is a clear violation of the U.N.’s international bill of rights13.
Here are the the ways you can escape:
- Run across the DMZ14. This route is the most simple, but also the most dangerous. Due to the previously mentioned provincial travel regulations, the only people who can really defect to South Korea this way are border guards15. For example, in 2017, a North Korean soldier on the border drove his car up to the border, crashed it, then under a hail of machine gun fire, collapsed on the south side of the border. He was shot 5 times in all16.
2. Boating. In this case, to South Korea. If you’re leaving from the west coast, head out from the shore near Haeju. You can potentially, with luck, make it down towards Incheon, South Korea17. However, if you go too far west, you will land in China, who has orders in place to repatriate all defectors BACK to North Korea18. If leaving from the east coast, you can make it across the Sea of Japan and land in Japan, which the government will then deport you to South Korea. Only 3 people have been confirmed to escape this way19.
3. Swimming. It may sound impossible, but if you’re a strong swimmer, you can make it down to South Korea if you leave from close to the border20. A few years ago, two men escaped by plunging into the water after sunset then swimming South with their backpacks keeping them afloat. In the wee hours of the morning, the men saw an unidentified boat heading towards them, which they feared was a North Korean patrol boat. This time in the year, however, was the cold autumn months in Korea. And so, they insulated themselves with trash and got a few hours of rest. Unbeknown to them, they were already past the border, and a South Korean rescue boat quickly helped them on and brought them to a new, free life in South Korea21.
4. Escaping through China: Part I. If you run across the northern border, through either the Yalu or Tumen rivers, you can escape into China. As previously mentioned, China can’t be your new home. One of the ways to get to South Korea this way is to go across the Gobi Desert, and make it into Mongolia22. In 2007, Yeonmi Park and her mother did exactly that. They escaped across the Tumen River in the middle of the night in February, when the river was frozen over, traveled down to Qingdao, where they stayed with Christian missionaries for 2 years until having enough food and supplies to make their way. They eventually got to Mongolia, where 2 border guards caught them. The guards however, were sympathetic to their plight, and sent them to Ulaanbaatar, then onto a flight to Seoul. Yeonmi now lives in the US, and makes videos about her life in NK and denouncing the atrocities of the regime 23a&23b. Her YouTube channel is linked in the sources.
5. Escaping through China: Part II. If you once again cross that northern border, then stay hidden all the way through China, you can make your way down to Thailand, who will also send you on a flight to South Korea if they catch you24. This route is more difficult than to Mongolia, because you have to cross all of China safely, go through the Laotian jungle (Laos will also send you back to NK if caught), then across the crocodile-infested Mekong River into Thailand. A father-son duo managed to make it across this way, unfortunately, the father got caught near the southern border in China, and was sent to a prison near the North Korean border. Thankfully, the prison released him after several months. He , made his way down to Vietnam, then finally, after a year and a half and 5,000+ miles of journeying, he got on a flight to join his son in Seoul25.
6. Escaping through China: Part III. Going through the northern border again, you can make your way past Asia, to the western world26. There are small communities of North Koreans in Europe and even the US27. One man applied for citizenship in the US, but when he found out that the application could take 2 years to be approved, he got on a boat in Vietnam. From there, he traveled through the Strait of Malacca, through the Indian Ocean, down around Africa, and then landed in Argentina. Once reaching South America, he traveled through South and Central America, and crossed the border with Mexicans. He is now a US citizen28.
7. Escaping through Labor Camps. North Korea’s lightest prison are labor camps, which citizens are sent to for minor crimes29. Certain countries that have ties with North Korea have laborers working on projects in their country, such as Russia or Poland30. However, not everyone just gets to go to the outsourced labor camps. The qualifications are to have a decent sentence to the labor camp, and you have to have a wife and kids back in NK. If a man escapes from the labor camp, the wife and children will then be held hostage by the regime, most likely being sent to a concentration camp. This does happen, sadly, but it still isn’t easy escaping31.
If you were a North Korean, would you risk it all and try to escape? Comment down below!
Sources:
Footnotes 1, 2, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 22, 23a, 25: YouTube.com/RealLifeLore
Footnotes 3, 4, 5: YouTube.com/Vox
Footnotes 6, 7, 8, 9, 17, 19: YouTube.com/Geography NOW!
Footnotes 14, 20, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31: YouTube.com/KentoBento
Footnote 23b: https://www.youtube.com/@YeonmiParkOfficial